Maple Leafs Fans Take Notice After New Sam Bennett Report from Pagnotta
Photo credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans are going to have all eyes on Sam Bennett as they await whether or not he's going to re-sign with the Florida Panthers or not.
If there were any questions about who the Maple Leafs should bring in for the long haul, there's no one better to target right now than Sam Bennett. He's torched the postseason yet again, and with him being a pending free agent; who knows what comes next.
Sam Bennett working with Florida on extension: David Pagnotta
However, it seems like The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta has an idea of what's going to happen, and for Maple Leafs fans; they should probably keep their eyes and ears open because Bennett and Florida are working towards an extension:
Sounds like there's been progress on a Sam Bennett extension with Florida - David Pagnotta
That seems to pour some ice cold water on those heated rumors of Bennett potentially heading to Toronto, so what happens now?
Toronto should instead target two other Panthers instead
With Bennett seemingly staying in town for the long run, the Panthers might not have enough to keep everyone in town, which means Toronto needs to target two departing names: Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand.
Going after both men would not only give Toronto the #1 defenseman they need since Morgan Rielly has regressed, and it allows one of their most notorious rivals to become one of their most deadliest weapons.
It's going to take a pretty penny given that both men are expecting raises, but if Brad Treliving is so keen to change the DNA of the team; adding these two is about as much of a change as any.
Marchand, 36, is still an elite playoff producer and is a key reason as to why Florida is close to securing their second straight Cup. He has 18 points in 20 playoff games (8G, 10A) including two game winning-goals and a plus-15 rating.
Ekblad, 29, is immediately an improvement over Rielly in both his offense (at least his shooting and scoring potential) and defense, where he offers a nasty edge to his game.
That fits in perfectly with Berube, and the fact that Ekblad has eight double digit goal seasons should only bode well for the team lacking offense on their backend; something they want to address this summer.
The one caveat for both men is going to be the dollar amount, as Marchand is going to get upwards of $8M per season on his next deal, meanwhile Ekblad is going to sign a lucrative deal with a potential to reach $10M per season depending on who's interested.
But by adding both players would not only take away two of Florida's biggest difference makers, but allows Toronto to finally change their DNA and rid themselves of the Mitch Marner gene once and for all.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 12 | 382 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Fans Take Notice After New Sam Bennett Report from Pagnotta Do you think Sam Bennett is going to re-sign with the Florida Panthers? | ||
| Yes | 325 | 85.1 % |
| No | 57 | 14.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
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